Arab Leaders: From Bad To Worse

Faisal Al Qasim writes Bin Ali and Mubarak gave up power with minimum bloodshed unlike in Libya where a cornered Gaddafi is prepared to kill his countrymen
This commentary was published in The Gulf News on 06/04/2011

Dear fleeing president of Tunisia Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali and dear deposed president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak ... First, I do apologise for addressing both of you as ‘fleeing' and ‘deposed' presidents. But rest assured, these are not very bad political adjectives considering the horrible adjectives that will be used to describe the presidents who will soon follow you.

Let me, Bin Ali and Mubarak, salute both of you very warmly for the way you got out of power. Sadly enough, we, Arabs, have been forced to choose between very bad presidents such as the both of you, and much worse, such as Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.

People desperately want such presidents to leave, but they cling on to power ever so tightly. No matter how many thousands of people they kill, and no matter how they ruin their countries in the process.

It might sound funny and sarcastic to choose between the bad and the worse in the Arab world, but that is actually the case. We, as a matter of fact, have no choice but to thank Mubarak and Bin Ali because they were deposed with the least amount of bloodshed.

Bin Ali's departure was, for that matter, quite smooth and nice. The president took a firm stand for about four weeks after the Tunisian people rose up against his rule. Then all of a sudden, he acknowledged all the demands, including, as he put it in his Tunisian dialect, "the suffering of the unemployed, the needy, the politicians, and the freedom fighters".

He then felt very uneasy about his situation and decided to flee when he noticed that he had become persona non grata in his own country, especially after the army chief told him bluntly that the armed forces will not fire a single bullet at Tunisian protesters.

Bin Ali got the message and headed straight to the airport with the help of an Italian security firm that he signed a contract with over 23 years ago to ship him out of the country in time of crisis. And it did.

Smooth transition

It is true that some of Bin Ali's followers tried to wreak havoc in the country, but the Tunisian people managed to swiftly put an end to the chaos. The country is now moving ever so smoothly from dictatorship to real democracy.

Similarly, Mubarak got on the people's nerves for a couple of weeks when he maintained that he was not going to leave no matter how many people protest against his regime. But he could not stand firm for long and relinquished power to the army which, thankfully enough, also refused to take action against the protesters.

The thugs contracted by Mubarak's regime tried to derail the revolution through arson and the random killing of innocent people and demonstrators, but they lost the battle quickly. Only a couple of hundred Egyptians were killed. And Egypt is now moving very proudly into a new era.

In contrast to Mubarak and Bin Ali, Gaddafi dubbed Libyan protesters "rats" and "drug addicts". And he threatened them with all sorts of punishment — alley by alley, as he put it. He went even further when he started importing criminals and mercenaries to put down the revolt.

Gaddafi forced his countrymen to opt for armed resistance, which has proved disastrous for the country — economically, politically and militarily. Add to this the fact that Libya is now under western mandate and could be divided into two or more states thanks to Gaddafi's madness.

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh is no better than Gaddafi when it comes to destroying his country to further his political ambitions. Thousands of Yemenis have been chanting slogans against Saleh for months, but he still clings on to power.

Sadly enough, all Arab presidents are not prepared to emulate Mubarak and Bin Ali. It has been reported that some are gearing up for a long and bloody encounter with local intifadas. I have been told that a certain Arab ruler wants to teach his people a horrible and painful lesson just because they rose up against his regime. He even threatened his people with sectarian conflict, which might lead later to the break-up of the country into many failed states.

Hail Mubarak and Bin Ali! Hail Arab armies which refused to fight against their kith and kin! And woe betide the Neros of Libya, Yemen and others.

Dr Faisal Al Qasim is a Syrian journalist based in Doha.